


A Little TLC

by loves_books



Category: A-Team - All Media Types, The A-Team (2010)
Genre: M/M, very minor hurt/comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-22
Updated: 2014-01-22
Packaged: 2018-01-09 16:51:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,357
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1148488
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/loves_books/pseuds/loves_books
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Originally titled 'Face gets a cold', in which, as you might guess, Face gets a cold and Hannibal takes care of him. Just a short piece written while I had a cold and was feeling sorry for myself.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Little TLC

“How’s the head?” Hannibal asked softly as he came back into the living room, arms loaded with supplies he’d gathered up as quickly as he could, not wanting to leave Face alone for too long.

“Pounding,” came the whispered reply, and Hannibal couldn’t help but smile at the pitiful figure his lover cut, curled up miserably into the corner of the sofa, eyes closed tightly and huddled into his blanket.

“Here we go.” He carefully laid his goods down onto the table, waiting until Face blinked open his bleary eyes before holding out the glass of fresh orange juice and a couple of Tylenol. “Get those down you, baby.”

One trembling hand ventured out from beneath the blanket to take the pills, and Hannibal watched as his poorly lover managed to swallow them down with the aid of the juice. Face let his head fall back into the cushions again, sniffling a little. “Thanks, boss,” he mumbled, and Hannibal could hear the exhaustion there as well as the unmistakable rasp of a sore throat. “I’m good, honest.”

“Kid, you barely made it through the afternoon session.” Hannibal settled the cool compress he’d prepared onto the younger man’s burning forehead, noticing the tiny sigh that escaped Face’s chapped lips as he closed his eyes again. “You are far from good. And if you’re still like this tomorrow – ”

“If I feel like this tomorrow I’m not going in, Hannibal, don’t worry.” Face’s voice was rough, and he sniffed again before suddenly sneezing, that trembling hand reaching for the box of tissues Hannibal had also brought into the room from the kitchen. 

Steadying the cold cloth again once Face had blown his nose, Hannibal smoothed the limp curls back from his lover’s sweaty forehead as he studied the younger man’s pale face. Red nose, pink cheeks, cracked lips - at least Face had finally admitted just how bad he was feeling, though there had been tell-tale signs throughout the day’s long training session, for anyone who knew where to look. And after years of experience with his stubborn XO, Hannibal certainly knew what to watch out for.

The team were leading a week of exercises with another two alpha units and a whole batch of new Ranger recruits, and to anyone else Face would have appeared to be the model soldier, setting a blistering time on the morning’s obstacle course before demonstrating a near-perfect 97% on the range. For Hannibal though that had actually been the first warning sign, knowing anything less than a perfect score from his XO meant something was wrong, and sure enough the afternoon had seen Face voluntarily taking more of a backseat in the drills. He’d let Murdock lead one of the planning sessions, which had certainly been an interesting experience, and chosen to observe the final run of the obstacle course rather than participating, claiming he wanted to study the teams’ ability to work together. 

Of course, the watery blue eyes and drippy nose weren’t noticeable until you got up close, and the slight shivers certainly hadn’t been obvious until Hannibal took hold of his lover’s hand to ask if he was okay, but they were all signs the kid had finally caught the bug that had been doing the rounds of the regiment over the last few wet weeks.

“I wish you’d spoken up earlier,” Hannibal murmured now, peering into those watery and red-rimmed eyes as Face sniffled again. “You could have come home after lunch.”

“I’m fine, it’s just a cold,” Face insisted weakly, and Hannibal knew he was probably right, knew it was almost certainly nothing serious. “I’ll be fine, boss, you don’t have to fuss. A good night’s sleep and I’ll be just fine.”

“You just said ‘fine’ three times then, sweetheart,” he pointed out gently with a smile, and Face blushed guiltily, an impressive feat given that his cheeks were already flushed red with his low fever. “You aren’t fine right now, though; let me look after you, okay?”

Face sighed again, letting his eyes close slowly. “Okay,” he whispered, and Hannibal took that as his cue to slide onto the sofa next to his lover. He wrapped his arms around Face’s blanket-clad body, shifting until he could cradle the younger man back against his chest. He flipped the cool compress over, again relishing the satisfied little sound Face let slip as it soothed his fevered brow, and he reached carefully down for the cushion he’d carried in, settling it against his shoulder before guiding Face’s head back into it. 

Craning his neck down, Hannibal pressed a gentle kiss to his lover’s temple as Face’s warm weight settled heavily against him. “Better?” he asked quietly, rocking his poorly boy in his arms slightly.

“Hmm,” came the drowsy reply, followed immediately by a cough and then a sneeze which had Face reaching out of his cocoon for the tissues again. Hannibal knew true sleep would probably be a long while coming for his lover, knew there was little he could do to make Face really feel better, and he also knew it could get worse before it got better, but hopefully he could help his boy get a little rest at least. 

“Easy, kid,” he soothed as Face dropped back into his arms. “Try and get some sleep.”

Face coughed again before suddenly trying to pull up and away. “You should go, Hannibal,” he gasped, pushing weakly at Hannibal’s arms. “I don’t want to give you this… whatever this is. They don’t need me for the training but they do need you, you’re the man in charge.”

But Hannibal just tightened his hold, pressing another kiss to burning skin. “I’m probably going to get it anyway,” he told Face with a tiny smile, remembering just what they had got up to together last night, making love for hours with a fiery passion in anticipation of being far too exhausted for the rest of the week for anything but sleep. “Besides, we share everything, remember? What’s yours is mine and all that jazz?”

Face gave a tired laugh at that, shifting in Hannibal’s arms to burrow his head further into the pillow. “I’d normally argue but my head hurts too much,” he confessed with another stifled sneeze, and Hannibal hushed him gently, starting to rock Face in his arms once again.

“Try to rest, baby. I’m not going anywhere.” Settling in for a long evening, Hannibal lifted his feet up onto the coffee table as Face coughed again, sniffling pitifully but not offering any further arguments. “I love you,” he whispered, and Face just smiled as his eyes drifted shut once more.

Even if he could do nothing to truly help, and even if it was just a case of the common cold, at least he could make sure Face was as comfortable as possible and keep him company throughout his misery. Looking over at the table, Hannibal checked again the stash of supplies he’d brought through as soon as they’d arrived home, when Face had staggered straight into the living room and collapsed onto the sofa – pills, more juice, bottled water. A couple of Face’s favourite chocolate bars, the ones he never let himself have unless he was having a really bad day. Another blanket and a pillow, just in case.

Of course he’d have to shift Face into their bed sooner rather than later, but for now Hannibal just contented himself with holding his lover and offering what comfort he could. It was always miserable having a cold, he knew that much from experience, but far more miserable when you were alone with no one to even sympathise. 

“Thanks, Hannibal,” Face murmured with another sneeze, already sounding even more congested than he had earlier.

“Just remember all this TLC when I get sick in a few days’ time, okay, kid?” he joked softly, and Face huffed a brief laugh before an easy silence fell between them as the evening stretched on into night, broken only by the occasional cough or sneeze. And even when Hannibal felt the first sneeze tickling his own nose, he didn’t let go of his man.


End file.
